Blind
by roseisinred
Summary: She turned one last bend and stopped. He was the one that fate had been trying to give her all of these years in return for all of the bad that had happened in her life. He had always loved her, even when she couldn’t see it. Leah/Embry one shot


AN: this is a little assignment that i had to write for school. i had been waiting for an opportunity to include Twilight in my school assignments and when this project came along i jumped at the chance. its actually my first attept at fanfiction and the charcters are a lil off but i didnt want my tacher to think im insane so i played it safe.

The path was long. So long that she thought it would never end. She couldn't remember why she started on it but all she could think of was that she wanted to get off. But every time she tried, an invisible force pulled her back to the center of the path and pushed her legs harder so she would continue further along.

A few years ago she would have given into the forces of the universe and let herself be carried along this path. She used to believe in love and life. She used to think that everything happened for a reason and that everyone would get a happily ever after eventually, when it was their time. But she was different now. She was changed. He had changed her. She used to hate him for it. The way he made her forget how to smile. To laugh. To love. But she was over it. She told herself over and over again that she was over him and he wasn't worth it.

He wasn't worth anything.

Now she was strong and independent, and wouldn't - couldn't - be pushed around. Everyone knew that she did what she wanted, when she wanted to, and whichever way she felt like. So it came as a shock to her when she gave in and let the invisible force carry her further.

When she first stepped onto the path, it had been straight, straight and made of flat stones that were all perfectly rectangular that it seemed like they had been measured and shaped to look exactly the same. There were trees of all different shapes and sizes along either side of the path, acting like a protective wall. Every branch was covered with leaves of all different colours. Some trees had flowers on the branches, some with pink flowers, some with blue, and some with yellow. Beautiful, she thought.

At first, she liked the path. It seemed safe and peaceful, almost like she was in a dream. However, any peaceful, dream-like feeling she had disappeared the moment she saw him. Sam. At first she was confused. She had long ago accepted that she was the only one on this path, the only one meant to be on this path. But there he was, tall and muscular, barefoot and wearing the usual cutoff jeans and black, tight-fitting t-shirt, with his buzz cut black hair and deep brown eyes that used she used to get lost in. She used to love his eyes. He was always so quiet, but when she looked into his eyes, it felt like she was looking into his soul. But now she new that his soul was a dark place filled with lies and broken promises about marriage and a house and children and their future. He was just standing there in the middle of the path, waiting for her.

After she recovered from the shock of seeing him, she continued along the path like she never saw him at all. "Lee-lee, please stop", Sam begged. "Please, just come home. We miss you. We need you there. Your mom needs you, and Seth. He doesn't understand anything. He's so confused. Nobody understands why you won't come home and be with your family. Emily misses you. We never meant to hurt you. We all need you. And you need us, Lee-lee. You can't stay alone forever. Please, please come home ..."

She ignored him, tuned him out until his voice was just an annoying buzzing in her ear. The voice that she used to get lost in, that used to calm her down and make her feel so safe. Safe, until Emily came into the picture. Emily, who, was her best friend in the whole world, her confidant. She had taken Sam away from her and together they had made her life a living nightmare. She was somebody when she was with Sam. Now, she didn't know what she was. Nobody could understand her. Nobody even tried. She was a bitter harpy. The Ice Queen as Paul liked to call her. It doesn't matter, she told herself, and they don't mean anything to me anymore.

After her encounter with Sam, she noticed that the path started to become more and more difficult to walk on. At first it started to twist and turn in weird zigzag shapes. The trees began to thin out and eventually disappear altogether. The smooth stones were starting to become jagged and razor-sharp. They hurt under her bare feet. They turned to large stones and soon became boulders that she had to climb over, and each one was more difficult to pass than the last. She was beginning to tire, which was strange because people like her shouldn't get tired over climbing over rocks. She was supposed to be physically strong and fast. So why am I so tired?, she thought to herself as she climbed over a particularly high boulder.

As she jumped down, she noticed a tree in the middle of the path. How could she not notice it? It was the biggest tree she had ever seen. It was bleached white, like the driftwood along First Beach trapped in the sand and polished by the waves. Its branches were bare and as she got closer, she noticed that the bark looked as smooth as marble. She moved closer, wanting to touch it, to make sure it was real. It was so beautiful, like something out of a fairy tale, though she gave up on fairy tales a long time ago. She knew this tree was special though. She had a feeling that something was beyond it, she just had to get around it somehow.

Just as she was reaching out to touch this enchanting tree, something caught her foot and she fell flat on her face. She sat up and wiped her forehead. Good thing werewolves heal fast, she thought to herself as she wiped the blood on her sundress. One of the only perks of being a werewolf was the ability to heal. And the speed, the speed was awesome.

As she was standing up she noticed a gleam near her foot. She looked down, her wound long forgotten, and reached for a key. It was an elegant, gold skeleton key the size of her palm, the kind that can open any lock with similar dimensions. Its bow was round and twisted, which made it look like little golden vines and the shaft was smooth and had two rectangular teeth. It looked strangely familiar. But she couldn't remember where she had seen it before. What am I supposed to do with this?, she thought. As she looked up at the tree she started. The tree was gone! In its place was the winding path. She shrugged and continued down the impossible, never-ending path.

As she turned yet another bend on the path she saw a flickering in the distance. Was it an animal? It looked like a bear or a horse. But wait, it flickered again. It couldn't be… Now it looked like a human, someone familiar and someone who, like Sam, shouldn't be on the path. It flickered yet again and it was an animal again. She realized that it was a wolf. But it was not a normal wolf. It was a werewolf, one of her pack brothers. Light brown fir and chocolate coloured eyes.

Who else would try to bring her back home after Sam had failed? He was the only one who had never given up on her. Ever. Even after she had made fun of him every day she had been in the pack. He never told her to shut up or told her she was wrong in harassing his mother. He just took it. She had never understood why. She asked him once and he had said, "The past is the past and I can't do anything to change it. I can change the way it will affect my future though." She ignored him for a week after that conversation, but couldn't ignore the double meaning in his words. He was right, and she couldn't do anything about it.

"Hey, Lee", Embry said, now human again, smiling warmly at her. She couldn't help but smile back. His smile was contagious. He had always been a happy kid, for as long as she could remember and sometimes being around him made her feel good, like she was her old self again, even for just a minute.

"Hey, Embry" she said. "Trying to get me to come back, too? 'Cause you know, it didn't work when Jake tried, or Sam, or even Seth, my own brother."

"Nah, I know you. You'll come back when you want to. Sam said you look horrible though. I just wanted to see if you were okay."

"Sure. Everything is great. Really, you can run home now and tell Sam that everything is just great," she said in a sarcastic tone, wondering how horrible she really looked if it made Sam worry about her. Sam didn't have the time to worry about her anymore.

"Okay. But…I was just wondering if I could … show you something."

"Show me what?"

He offered her a hand for her to take. "You'll see", he simply stated.

They continued along the path, and she noticed that it was smooth again, like it was in the beginning. She wondered if Embry had anything to do with that. They walked for about ten minutes, him glancing at her every so often like he was making sure she was still there. Every time he looked at her he squeezed her hand a little bit harder. They turned a bend and she could see a house at the end of the lane. She hesitated, and Embry gave her a pleading look.

"Please Lee, just come. For me?" he begged. She hesitated again, but gave in because she actually wanted to go to this house. It stood alone between two maple trees. It was a small and wooden house, with narrow windows and painted dull red, making it look like a barn. The door was painted yellow and had a small window in the center that was covered by a curtain from the inside so nobody would be able to peer in.

"My house", she stated. It was a familiar sight. There was a time in her life when her house felt like a home, but that was a long time ago. She had moved out as soon as her mother agreed to help Emily plan her wedding. She had thought her mom was the only one left on her side, the only one who wouldn't - couldn't - choose Emily over her. How wrong she had been.

Embry led her around the house to the backyard, passed the familiar hedge that had been her father's third child. He had kept it neat and well-trimmed but after he died, nobody dared to touch it. Now, it was taller than her and growing wild with weeds and thorns sticking out of it. She and Embry were careful not to get caught in it. They came to an iron gate. Embry tried to open it but it was locked.

"You don't have a key do you?" he asked her. She remembered why the key had looked so familiar. It opened the gate to the backyard. She took the key from her pocket and put it inside the keyhole and twisted it. The lock clicked and she pushed the gate open.

They continued past the gate into the backyard. It was rectangular with green grass and was surrounded by forest. The forest was made up of maple trees, pine trees, fern trees, oak trees and evergreens, covered with leaves of all different shapes and sizes. She had spent many years in this backyard with her father, and she couldn't help remembering all the things they did here. She looked over to the flower bed that they had planted when she was nine years old. It was filled with roses, lilies, tulips, orchids, and petunias, giving the backyard a homey and welcoming atmosphere. At least her mother had made an effort to keep these alive, she thought to herself.

Embry continued to lead her to a window.

"Look inside," he told her.

"I already know what's inside," she answered, annoyed now. But she looked anyway. It was her bedroom, and it looked exactly how she had left it. The walls were painted blood red. A double bed with a brass frame and a black comforter laid on the mattress was against one wall. Two wooden night stands were on either side of the bed, one with a black reading lamp and the other with a stereo and dozens of CDs. A tall wooden wardrobe was pushed into the back corner and along the other walls were shelves supporting more CDs, DVDs, and books. A black carpet was laid out on the floor and clothes were strewn across it. On the wall above the bed, zebra patterned letters spelled out "Leah", her name. Jake's sisters had helped her paint and design the room.

She felt a pang of longing in her chest. She missed her room. She had spent hours here when she was a teenager talking on the phone with Emily over boys, listening to music, writing in her diary all of her hopes and dreams and fears. She had her first kiss on the carpet. She was playing cards with Sam and he had leaned over and kissed her, out of the blue. She had blushed, and he told her he loved her. It was in this room Sam promised her that when they were both out of high school they would get married and live in a beautiful house and grow old together. Sam had disappeared for two weeks and when he came back, he had broken up with her, right here. It was in this room Emily had called her to tell her the truth about Sam and why he had been acting weird.

"We're together now. I'm so sorry Leah. I don't understand how it happened or why he loves me or I love him but —" She hung up on Emily after she heard that. It was in this room that her father had told her that they received an invitation to Sam and Emily's wedding and that Emily wanted Leah to be a bride's maid. After that, she had gotten so angry that she phased into a werewolf for the first time.

"That's all it takes to phase", Sam had told her. "One second of pure anger and that's it, your whole life is blown to pieces. I wanted to tell you all about it, about everything that was happening to me when I first phased, but I wasn't allowed. Sorry." Her father had died of a heart attack that night. All her fault.

"Why did you take me here Embry?" Leah asked him as he led her into the forest beyond her backyard. She wasn't afraid of the forest. It was familiar to her now. Because of the many nights she had to run patrol as a werewolf, she knew the area like the back of her hand.

"I wanted you to remember who you were. You're trapped in this in-between state right now where you are trying to let go of the nice, caring, lovable, teenager Leah that you used to be and growing into this independent, insensitive, unlovable woman. Everyone has a past, Leah. Everyone has been through heartache and has been betrayed. It doesn't mean that it's the end of the world. It doesn't mean that you have to stop fighting either. There is a plan out there for you. Even if your entire world has been messed up in the past, it doesn't mean that it won't get better. There is a future out there for you Leah. You can't wait for something good to come to you. Make your own future, live by your own rules, and you'll come to where you want to be in your life. And don't be afraid to love Leah. You don't want to be alone. Someone will be waiting for you at the end of the road. You just have to decide for yourself when you want to get there."

Leah turned to tell him that he was wrong, that there was nothing out there for her. But he wasn't there anymore. She was alone in the forest. She continued to walk through the overgrown vegetation to an unknown destination.

Her feet carried her to a river. She knew this river well. The water was usually running fiercely south, its current so strong that any normal person would drown. But for some strange reason, the current was still. It was as if the river was made of a sheet of glass, completely still and crystal clear. She could see the jagged rocks at the bottom of the river. As she leaned in she saw her reflection for the first time in years.

Her hair was short, shoulder length and tangled with leaves and twigs. Her neck and arms were tanned a beautiful russet colour, but she could hardly see it because her skin was caked with dirt, including her face. Looking back at her were two eyes black as night. She leaned away from the water as soon as she saw them. They scared her. They were so dead looking and empty. She peered at her reflection again. She saw her dead eyes, but she also saw a flicker of hope in them. She realized that she wanted to be her old self again. She realized that she didn't want to be alone. She wanted to live at home. She wanted to be free from the pain that Sam and Emily and becoming a werewolf caused her. She wanted to love again. She set off at a run through the forest. Once she got out of the undergrowth, she was on the stone path again. She set off at a run. The end of this long and treacherous path was finally looming. She could feel it.

She turned one last bend and stopped. He was the one that fate had been trying to give her all of these years in return for all of the bad that had happened in her life. He had always loved her, even when she couldn't see it.

She turned one last bend and took Embry's hand, and together walked hand in hand to their happily ever after…

The End

reviews are welcome. tell me i need to improve on anything.


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